Obesity and socioeconomic status in Argentina

MALENA MONTEVERDE; DORA CELTON; ENRIQUE PELÁEZ; CLAUDIA CHAUFAN

Journal of Behavioral Health

Foundation for the Education, Health, Social Cooperation and Solidarity of the People of Gülhane

Lugar: Ankara; Año: 2013 vol. 2 p. 326 - 326

2146-8346

ackground: In 2001 Argentina experienced the worst economic depression in the country?s history, yet few researchers have examined the nutritional status of Argentines vis-à-vis key socioeconomic indicators as the country recovered from its economic crisis. Methods: We used the 2009 National Survey of Risk Factors (ENFR) to examine the association between socioeconomic status (SES) -- income and education -- and risk of being overweight or obese five years after the crisis. We estimated logistic regression models with weight as dependent variable and income, education, age, and gender as independent variables. Results: About 50% of the Argentine population 18 and older was overweight or obese in 2009. Low weight, while not high, was higher in women than in men. There were gender differences in the association between overweight/obesity and socioeconomic status. Among men, overweight increased as income and education increased, whereas among women the reverse was generally t